It is no trick to visit half a dozen various countries and revel in many periods of world history, in a single afternoon on the Mary Pickford-Douglas Fairbanks "lot" in Hollywood. One can begin in the Holy Land during the times of the Crusaders and wander down through the Elizabethan period of England to our own New York state and then turn a corner and stand before the Great Gate of the Talisman leading to the City of Bagdad.
Two years ago, during the infancy of the present studio, the visitor could have viewed only Twelfth century England. Today he may journey through England, France, the Holy Land, New York state, the blue grass and blue mountain districts of Kentucky, Elizabethan England, Spain and ancient Bagdad. Two years hence and he may need a Baedeker to guide him through the many countries that will be represented.
The first "sets" on the "lot" were constructed for Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood. Here Nottingham Castle was built, perhaps more elaborately than it existed in the year 1190. Towering 200 feet into the air, with massive drawbridge, moat and formidable portcullis, from a distance of twenty feet it was impossible to tell that the structure was not built of huge granite stones. Back of this stood the Great Hall of the castle. At this time it was the largest interior ever used in a picture, but now the entire set has been dwarfed by the mosques, palaces and minarets of Fairbanks latest production The Thief of Bagdad.
At the foot of these magnificent sets was a motley collection of decrepit cabins- the sets for Miss Pickford's Tess of the Storm Country. The scene represented the shore of Lake Cayuga, in New York state known as "the storm country." The buildings were squalid, dirty and decaying, but nevertheless faithfull reproductions, and interest was as keen as in the more imposing edifices nearby.
It was Jack Pickford who added the blue grass country of Kentucky to the "lot" with his sets for Garrison's Finish, his thrilling horse race picture. Even famous Belmont Park, scene of some of the most noted races in the world of turfdom, was represented. Here on the "lot" were duplicated buildings that really exist and in them were enacted scenes that thrilled every lover of horseflesh. They were rustic and homely, to be sure, but no more so than the very house, stables and streets that now nestle in the valleys of the Blue Grass mountains. Belmont Park was presented as it exists on the days of big races and handicaps.
Next Seville reared itself on the "lot." These "sets" were for Miss Pickford's Rosita which is now showing. Here in artistic decay the cafes, homes and patios of the famous Spanish city were represented. Visitors trod over roads and pathways identical with those built by the Moors centuries ago. Windows were all quaintly barred and little niches in the walls of the homes indicated the shrines where the populace invoked the mercy of the Blessed Virgin for the welfare of their souls. All was color.
Again Kentucky came to mingle with England and Spain. This time it was the Blue Mountain instead of the Blue Grass country. This section, made so famous in song and story, was transplanted for Jack Pickford's The Hill-Billy which will soon be released. The close observer would note a difference between this and the valley scenes. The homes were more substantial and not quite so old. They represented a newer period in Kentucky history.
Down at the lower end of the "lot" a multitude of minerets, and graceful domes, shedding all the hues of the rainbow towered skyward. They were the "sets" for Douglas Fairbanks The Thief of Bagdad his latest and greatest picture. Never has a motion picture studio seen structures as glorious as these. It is the Bagdad of dreams that stretches over six acres. Here are the Great Mosque, the palace of the Caliph, the Great Square, the bazaars, the coffee shops and the stands of the merchants. Here are the resting places of the Caravans enroute from Damascus to India and the Orient, with camels, elephants and donkeys drowsing in the warm sun. A hundred nationalities from all parts of the world mingle colorfully in the Great Square. Verily it is a scene to inspire a second Omar to a second Rubiyat. Back of this set is the reproduction of the Great Buddha. Built on such a mammoth scale, it rises in three sections, so that "closeups" might be taken. Fronting it is the Great North Gate of the city- "The Gate of the Talisman." Towering one hundred and fifty feet into the air, it opens in four sections.
After this the visitor comes to one of the most romantic periods of English history- Elizabethan England. Haddon Hall, made famous by Charles Major in his "Dorothy Vernon of Hadden Hall," has been reconstructed for Miss Pickford's forthcoming picture of the same name. Haddon Hall still stands in England and the set on the "lot" is as faithful as though the original were brought across the intervening land and water. Around this beautiful reproduction are castles, dungeons and other buildings, all of the same period.
This is the last contribution to the Pickford-Fairbanks "lot." What
the future holds is problematical. Certainly other "sets" as glorious as
those will rise in the future. Soon those that arc now standing may disappear
and in their places will appear other reproductions of noted edifices and
glorious cities.
The World on a 'Lot'," Film Yearbook 1924, pages 29, 31.
© 1997, David Pierce, on editing and revisions (if any)
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